New Study Shows True Cost of Illegal Immigration in Pennsylvania

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A study released this week by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), documents the real cost of illegal immigration to Pennsylvanians. TheCosts of Illegal Immigrationto Pennsylvanians finds that providing education and health care to illegal aliens and their families, and incarcerating criminal illegal aliens, costs state taxpayers nearly $730 million annually.

The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Pennsylvanians reveals that taxpayers spend:

$ 660 million a year to educate and provide special instruction in English to the children of illegal aliens.

$ 50 million a year on unreimbursed health care for illegal aliens and their families.

$ 17.5 million a year to incarcerate criminal illegal aliens.

The cost study is based on an estimated illegal alien population in Pennsylvania of about 140,000 persons -- nearly triple the 2000 population. While the native-born population has remained steady throughout the decade, the state's foreign-born population grew by 34.5 percent.

"Voters in Pennsylvania, like voters everywhere, want their elected officials in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., to protect their interests, their jobs, and their tax dollars from the impact of mass illegal immigration," said Dan Stein, President of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). "Even as the state wrestles with a budget crisis that has brought it to the brink of being unable to pay its bills, illegal immigration is draining nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars from state coffers."

While cash-strapped states like Pennsylvania face rapidly increasing costs associated with illegal immigration, policy decisions being made in Washington are compounding these burdens. "At a time when the Obama administration is intent on systematically dismantling interior immigration enforcement, and congressional leaders are considering providing health care to illegal aliens, voters in the Keystone State need to be aware of the heavy fiscal burden illegal immigration is placing on them. It is time political leaders stopped pandering to the illegal immigration lobby, and started enforcing laws that serve the interests of ordinary Americans."

About FAIR

Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 250,000 members nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Pennsylvanians is available at www.fairus.org.